‘World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ release date: Q4 2020 launch confirmed; Quarantine measures increase pre-purchase sales

The Activision Blizzard bosses have great news for gamers eagerly waiting for “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands.” They recently confirmed that the expansion is slated to launch later this year.

‘World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ release date

Blizzard is not a stranger to missing important deadlines, and what happened to “Warcraft 3: Reforged” is a good case in point. Additionally, it is understandable for some fans to worry about the “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands” release date, especially as video game companies adjust to work-from-home arrangements due to coronavirus over the previous months.

The good news is the company assured fans that its employees had adjusted well to the new work setup. This could mean that the development timeline of upcoming IPs, including “World of Warcraft: Shadowlands,” are virtually unaffected by the pandemic.

Activision Blizzard President Daniel Alegre admitted, during their Q1 2020 earnings call, that the changes still pose other challenges in terms of creating the expansion. “Although the shift to remote working does add complexity and challenges in some areas of the game development process, including creative collaboration, motion capture, voiceover work, localization, and quality assurance,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Blizzard Entertainment President J. Allen Brack offered more good news and confirmed, “Shadowlands is on track to launch in Q4 of this year.” He also revealed that closed alpha testing has already started in April, where “select players” were chosen to participate.

Blizzard is likely to open the closed beta to more players once the expansion reaches a more stable state and nearing its full release. There is no guarantee for any players to be selected, but they can take a chance by registering for the beta program using their Battle.net accounts. Only those who will receive email invites can join the closed beta.

‘World of Warcraft: Shadowlands’ pre-purchase sales are up

The gaming industry is the one business that still saw positive scenarios amid the coronavirus pandemic. The health crisis has forced governments to impose stay-at-home guidelines from community quarantines to total lockdowns. This meant that people had more time to play video games.

Brack confirmed that traffic generated by western players for the modern “World of Warcraft” increased in March as well as the “Classic” title. Overall, the company confirmed that this contributed to “strong pre-sales” for “Shadowlands.”